Championship Blog: Homestead-Miami

Without a victory in the 10-race Chase, Tony Stewart is the 2005 Nextel Cup champion. It is his second series championship (2002).

Jeff Gordon wins the $1M bonus for finishing 11th in the point standings.

This is Joe Gibbs Racing's third Cup championship since 2000, ending Roush Racing's two-year hold on the title. ... And for the second year in a row, Greg Biffle is a footnote in tomorrow's newspaper.

• 7:15 p.m. -- Greg Biffle wins the Ford 400 for the second consecutive year and ties Carl Edwards with 6,498 points. Biffle finishes second in points by tiebreaker (six wins to Edwards' four).

• 7:13 p.m. -- With one lap remaining, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were tied with 6,498 -- 35 points behind Tony Stewart.

• 7:02 p.m. -- Tony Stewart now has to finish 25th or better -- which is one lap down. Nos. 26-29 are two laps down.

• Jeff Gordon leads Jamie McMurray by 71 points in the $1M chase for 11th place in the final standings.

• 7 p.m. -- Casey Mears had led 70 laps through 35 races this year. He's now led 71 today.

• 6:58 p.m. -- Tony Stewart is 15th, the last car on the lead lap. He leads Carl Edwards by 30 points.

• 6:54 p.m. -- With the final round of green-flag pit stops complete, Casey Mears returns to point.

• 6:53 p.m. -- Carl Edwards has clinched the five-point bonus for leading the most laps. ... Now it's a matter of where Edwards and Tony Stewart finish.

• 6:48 p.m. -- After getting into the grass, race leader Casey Mears saves the car entering pit road. After that move, this may be his night.

• 6:46 p.m. -- Is it just us, or have tires been an issue in more races than not this year? And when did green-flag pit stops become a bad thing?

• 6:44 p.m. -- Tony Stewart has fallen to 13th; his lead is 36 points over Carl Edwards.

• 6:37 p.m. -- With 59 laps to go, Tony Stewart leads Carl Edwards by 34 points.

• 6:32 p.m. -- Jeff Gordon gets into Ryan Newman and the front-left fender on the No. 12 has been crimped down onto the tire. .... Newman pits and goes one lap down.

• 6:31 p.m. -- And the Aflac duck has been cued for the final time.

• 6:28 p.m. -- So, when does Crest ink Carl Edwards as its national spokesmouth?

• 6:25 p.m. -- After 2,684 times of not opening the car door, don't you think Dale Jr. would get the hint?!

• 6:20 p.m. -- At what point does Mark Martin let Talladega get under his skin? Save that crash -- in which he was caught up as an innocent bystander -- Martin would be right there in the Cup chase, instead of 123 points behind.

• 6:12 p.m. -- The debris caution may have saved the Cup for Tony Stewart. He was backsliding before the yellow -- and picked up a couple spots on pit road to push his lead to 33 points. (Carl Edwards returned to the track third.)

• 6:06 p.m. -- Tony Stewart has fallen to 15th -- and his lead is down to 15 points.

• 6 p.m. -- Carl Edwards' post-victory flips wins the final Cingular poll. Thanks for your participation. Now back to racing ...

• 5:59 p.m. -- Trying to explain the Kevin Harvick / Sonoco "Marco Polo" game to the uninitiated is an exercise in futility.

• 5:56 p.m. -- While Carl Edwards is leading the race, Tony Stewart is 11th -- 27 points in front.

• 5:50 p.m. -- With Jimmie Johnson out of the race, Tony Stewart now has to finish 20th or better to win the championship. He's running ninth after the restart.

• 5:45 p.m. -- Tony Stewart now leads Carl Edwards by 35 points. The Nextel Cup nameplate is being etched as we speak.

• 5:43 p.m. -- See you in Daytona, Jimmie Johnson. The No. 48 car is in the wall, with the rear end crumpled up like yesterday's newspaper.

• 5:38 p.m. -- Heading into another commercial break, Bill Weber claims: "If trouble breaks out, we'll break in." I didn't realize we were watching NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

• 5:38 p.m. -- Jimmie Johnson is sliding faster than Ricky Martin's singing career.

• 5:37 p.m. -- Ryan Newman won six of nine Busch Series starts and led a series-best 800 laps.

• 5:31 p.m. -- There is joy in Owensboro: Jeremy Mayfield will not finish 10th in points for the second consecutive season. ... Maybe that Maricopa County sheriff's deputy was a Mayfield fan.

• 5:26 p.m. -- The Seminoles won't win this week, either. Scott Riggs' Checkers/Seminoles car slides, backs into the wall. Sounds a lot like FSU's recent history.

• 5:25 p.m. -- Carl Edwards and 1.5-mile tracks go together like PB&J, BLT ... and there goes Jeff Gordon to the inside to take the lead.

• 5:23 p.m. -- Vote now in the Cingular poll.

• 5:18 p.m. -- After David Stremme finds the wall, NASCAR.COM's Elliott Gordon wonders: Where's Ward Burton?

• 5:12 p.m. -- "Clouds are moving in" -- four words no one wants to hear.

• 5:10 p.m. -- Jeff Gordon now leads Jamie McMurray by 50 points in the chase for the $1M bonus for finishing 11th in points.

• 5:06 p.m. -- Well, as long as NBC is showing Miller Lite football commercials, we'll take the opportunity to mention the Colts are leading the Bengals 21-17 -- a combined six possessions, five TDs.

• 5 p.m. -- NBC is showing The Poseidon Adventure tonight. If they're gonna do a remake and have the race as the lead-in, why not Stroker Ace?

• 4:56 p.m. -- What will Dale Earnhardt Jr. do with all that free time, now that he won't be burdened by those snappy NAPA commercials?

• 4:53 p.m. -- Us Weekly reports Christina Aguilera has tied the knot. That leaves Kasey Kahne as the world's prettiest single person.

• 4:43 p.m. -- During Bobby Labonte's spin, couldn't you hear Harry Hogge telling Cole Trickle to pick a line and drive through the smoke?

• 4:42 p.m. -- Casey Mears is running fifth. If this continues, it would be his fifth top-10 in the Chase.

• 4:40 p.m. -- In case you're wondering, Tony Stewart is running 15th -- and is 35 points ahead of Carl Edwards after 39 laps.

• 4:35 p.m. -- Hmmm, Ryan Newman is looking good in that Intrepid. ... If this continues, the Dodge guys will be left to wonder what could have been if not for the body change to the Charger.

• 4:29 p.m. -- Kyle Busch hits the wall. ... Wonder if he'll take any questions from the media?

• 4:26 p.m. -- Ricky Rudd's run-in with Scott Wimmer on pit road has collateral damage for a few of the No. 10 crew members, one of whom is taken to the infield care center.

• 4:23 p.m. -- Meanwhile in St. Louis, Kurt Warner is blistering the Rams as the Cardinals are leading 38-28 in the waning seconds.

• 4:21 p.m. -- Close call for Jimmie Johnson, who narrowly misses the sliding ride of Scott Wimmer. ... Johnson currently is 97 points behind Tony Stewart.

• 4:20 p.m. -- Bobby Labonte will be the first Cup champion to sit in the No. 43 car since Nov. 15, 1992 -- Richard Petty's last race.

• 4:16 p.m. -- Jeff Gordon is on the move, which has been the case the past few weeks. ... File it under "too little, too late."

• 4:13 p.m. -- Carl Edwards is 22 points behind Tony Stewart.

• 4:12 p.m. -- Carl Edwards gains five bonus points for leading a lap.

• 4:12 p.m. -- And they're off!

• 4:09 p.m. -- News flash: Rusty Wallace is retiring. Who knew?

• 4:07 p.m. -- Starting 20th on Nov. 20th in car No. 20 ... ladies and gentlemen, Tony Stewart.

• 4:02 p.m. -- Gotta love the No. 97 car leading off the Ford Fusion commercial.

• 4:01 p.m. -- From Edsel Ford: Gentlemen, start your engines! ... Finally. And Bill Weber says the "cars and hearts will be racing."

• 3:54 p.m. -- Scott Stapp, don't quit your day job. ... Dude, that rendition of the national anthem was, in a word: interesting.

• 3:51 p.m. -- Has it really been only 274 days since Daytona? Well, there are only 91 until we crank 'em up again.

• 3:33 p.m. -- Ingrid Vandebosch. Vote early, vote often.

• 3:31 p.m. -- The final Wally's World of the year. ... Maybe the next time Dallenbach qualifies for a race, he can take a camera and passenger.

• 3:27 p.m. -- How can I get one of those Rusty Wallace-signed driver uniforms?

• 3:22 p.m. -- How many drivers have led the point standings this year? Five -- Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart.

• 3:22 p.m. -- Carl Edwards is interviewed by Dave Burns. Shockingly, he's smiling.

• 3:17 p.m. -- NASCAR.COM's Mark Spoor calls it: Greg Biffle will be the 2006 Nextel Cup champion. ... Check back in 365 days.

• 3:01 p.m. -- We get our first look at Tony Stewart. We're surprised it took that long.

• 3 p.m. -- NBC is on the air.

• 2:39 p.m. -- Craig Reynolds of NASCAR Nation says on SPEED's pre-race show that he's signed so many autographs at Homestead that he "has writer's cramp." They think he's Moby.